


At First Light, Look To My Coming

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, F/M, Female Eddie Brock, Female Tony Stark, Romantic Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-05-24 20:17:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14961477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: Bucky was a soldier for a long time, working with his pack's alpha pair in the human forces. When he loses his arm, he's sent back and the hunters he'd been avoiding return in full force. Dying on old pack soil, he's sure Pierce is finally going to get him.Until a woman with a length of pipe smacks him into a tree.





	1. Moderation Is Key

**Author's Note:**

> The Rogers Pack:   
> \- Steve, Alpha Wolf  
> \- Peggy, Alpha Wolf  
> \- Bucky, Wolf  
> \- Natasha, Arachne Devotee  
> \- Clint, Hawk  
> \- Sam, Nephilim  
> \- Wanda, Red Witch  
> \- Thor, Patron God

He was limping and growling when he started to run, but humans were a pain in the ass persistence predator. He should have known from his time in the forces, with his pack, but he hadn't paid that much attention. But here they were, deep in the woodlands of Idaho, pushing up into Alberta, and the hunters were still chasing him. 

He knew it was because Pierce wanted him. Pierce wanted him to experiment and to weaponize, because Wolves were killers by nature, hunters in their own fashion, and also had a sense for Ethereals. 

He staggered into a tree, but spared a moment to consider that hunters now called them Unnaturals. The true powerhouses that had lent their names to Ethereals had been killed off, lost to the ravages of time and the scourge of the mortal fiends. He tossed a prayer up to Thor for strength and heaved forwards. 

He made it only another couple of miles before they shot him again, puncturing his lung. He dropped, unable to maintain the effort any longer. But he also remembered this place, Steve's old pack grounds. Before they'd all gone to the war effort.

"After all this time." Pierce said, walking up to him. Pierce had been a young man last time their eyes had met, but he was not now. "Here you are."

"Is my arm being gone not enough for you?" He spit, but a lot of the fight was gone from him. The army had discharged him without his pack, and the devastation at being separated had almost destroyed him. It was why he left his birthplace of Brooklyn to head to the pack grounds in the first place. 

"Your head wouldn't be enough for me."

A twig snapped behind Pierce and the man turned to inspect, his rifle still raised, when a solid length of pipe sent him careening into a tree. 

Bucky was caught off guard by a human woman, eyes and hair a deep woodland brown. She tucked the pipe into her jeans and hurried over to him, hauling him over her shoulder. 

"You're heavier than you look." She muttered. "I'll need your help if you wanna be gone before he wakes up."

He snorted at her humour before putting some effort back into standing and limped along with her to a small ATV. She helped him onto it then took the front, kicking the engine into gear and zipping off into the forest. The truck Pierce had been chasing him in was on fire some feet away. 

He rested himself against her, then promptly passed out. 


	2. Quiet Woods

He woke up to the smell of fire, earth and musk. The ceiling was wooden, the beams dark in the evening, but obviously semi-recent ash. Poplar was what  was burning in the fireplace. He was sore and stiff everywhere, especially in his chest, but he pushed himself into a sitting position anyway. 

"Dude, that's a little fast." 

With a mere whisper of air, the woman who'd had the pipe appeared next to him, a gentle but firm hand on his chest. 

"Who are you?" He asked in return, not heeding her. He must have been out for some time, because he knew what bullet wounds felt like and his had healed about half-way. "Did Steve send you to watch over me?"

She frowned, her big black-brown eyes questioning. "I don't know a Steve, but I  _do_ know what someone in trouble looks like. Plus, what kind of American would I be to let a serviceman get gunned down on home soil?"

"How did you know I was a soldier?" He sat up further, his body language more aggressive. She backed off, raising her hand and tilting her head to the side to bar her neck. 

"When you were running, I was out getting branches. I saw your tags flashing, then that asshole following you, taking pot shots. I followed behind him on my ATV to try and figure out what was going on. According to you, you already had some unpleasant history, so I decided to help. You're more than welcome to leave, but he doesn't know you're here."

He reigned himself back in, because it wasn't fair to her to have to deal with all the shitty things hunters had done to him, nor have to pay for it. "Sorry. I . . . I don't want to seem ungrateful for your help, but it's been a while since I could trust somebody."

She met his gaze again, her expression more sympathetic than it had a right to be. "All your friends left overseas?"

He nodded quietly. 

"I understand. On both accounts." She moved a little closer, kneeling on the floor next to the bed so she was looking up at him. Then, she very purposefully extended her right hand to him. "Nice to meet you, Sargent Pretty Eyes. I'm Tony."

"You think my eyes are pretty?" He chuckled, shaking her hand. "My name's James, but you can call me Bucky."

She raised an eyebrow. "Last I checked, 'Bucky' wasn't a diminutive of 'James', but then, I have been in the woods a long time."

He smiled at her, watching the way she involuntarily smiled back. "It's still not, don't worry. My middle name is Buchanan."

"Ah." She stood, letting her hand slide away from his instead of just letting him go. "I cut holes in your jacket to access the bullet wounds, but I didn't actually take off your clothes, so your modesty is safe with me. You might want to check yourself over and take a shower, though. I wasn't able to get all the blood off of you and your clothes are pretty nasty."

He winced. "Yeah, sticky too."

"The bathroom's just over there. This cabin's pretty small, so you won't miss it. I got some clothes from town that should fit you, but uh," She gestured to his overlarge physique, "you're not exactly small."

"I appreciate your help, Tony, but I've gotta ask," He threw his legs over the edge of the bed, facing her more fully, "why are you helping me, a guy you saw getting chased on foot through the woods?"

She paused, face going grave, the firelight casting her in a dramatic dichotomy. "Because a complete stranger saved my life. He died for me, to give me a chance at life and to do something good for someone else. It just . . . felt right. Something told me I had to save you." She stood a little straighter and the room seemed to darken, like power was gathering around her. "So I did. And I would have, pretty eyes notwithstanding."

He nodded, ducking his head submissively. "Most people don't do something for nothing. Don't blame me for being cautious."

Light and warmth returned to her face as it did the room. "I know. I used to be one of them. But people get better, right?" She cleared her throat. "Alright, Corporal, let's get you cleaned up."

He stood with more ease than a human would have, and she seemed to notice it. "You were right the first time, actually."

"Huh?"

"I was a Sargent before . . ." He gestured to his left arm.

She winced. "Yeah, that was part of the reason I didn't take off your jacket. If you had it all bundled in there or something, I wasn't going to be the one to mess with it."

"I appreciate that. The wound is mostly healed, but it's still sore."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

When he came out of the bathroom, scrubbed down and smelling of shea butter and baby powder, Tony nearly dropped the log she was holding. 

"Holy fuck." She muttered, taking him in.

The jeans and sweats she found him fit decently well, but the shirts had been too small, unable to fit over his chest. Wolves had issues with that kind of muscle mass, as thick on the top halves as the bottom. It was something that usually put women off, men even more, but she seemed fascinated. 

"The shirts don't fit." He explained meekly, a little nervous. He would have felt better with his other arm, but that wasn't going to happen.

"Fuck, I'm almost  _glad_." She said, pulling a throw from the back of the couch without letting her eyes leave him. "I guess I'll have to take you in to town and get you sized."

He got more anxious. "I don't think-"

"The people there know who I am, and know to be discreet when I ask them to." She said, moving around the loveseat to stand in front of him. "Can I ask you something, Sarge?"

"If you want."

"That a tattoo on your chest?"

He looked down at his soulmate mark, a white triangle with a black pinwheel design around it backlit in blue. He'd forgotten it was there, what with most of his pack mated and the rest not bearing a matching mark. "Something like that."

"Got it in service?"

"Before. It's for someone special."

She swallowed. "They still around?"

He shook his head. He'd never found his soulmate, not in the hundred or so years he'd been around and he had given up hope at fifty. Wolves were hard to find, and with all the population explosions happening- It was just unlikely, so it was best not to be bothered by it. 

"Sorry." She offered, looking over his body again. He kind of wanted to preen, bask in her unrestrained attention, but he thought that might be weird for a human. Wolves were easy and up front with their affections, but humans danced around things. 

"It's alright. It was a long time ago."

She wrapped the throw around his shoulders, finally meeting his gaze. He was a little surprised by the amount of heat there, but he wasn't going to dissuade it. It had been some time since someone had been interested in him at all, and Tony seemed like a decent dame. Even just for a fling before he hit the road again. 

She cleared her throat, black eyes to blue. "Well, I finished dinner. I figured a big guy like you would want some extra food, but I didn't realize  _how_ big you were. That jacket was really deceptive."

"I'm in no position to complain. I will eat whatever you give me."

"You might regret saying that. I'm not a great cook."

"I'm ex-military, doll. There's nothing you can do worse."

She laughed, patting his shoulder. "We'll see about that. Now c'mon and sit by the fire or your hair is going to freeze. It gets colder than you think out here."

"Don't worry too much, I run hot."

She tossed a wink over her shoulder. "Look it, too. Double threat."

He flushed - out of the game  _far_ too long. "Says Aphrodite over there."

Her laugh was loud and ringing. "You're just saying that because I saved your ass."

She bent down to grab some dishes and he sucked in a breath. "I'm not the one with a holy ass."

She snorted. "Yeah, dressed like a forest hobo. Sexiest fashion on the market."

He hadn't even noticed the state of her clothing until that moment. She  _was_ dressed pretty ragged, with baggy, ill-fitting trousers, a ratty sweater and old knitted gloves with the fingers cut off. It was dark just like the rest of her, so he supposed that's why he never noticed. He just shrugged. 

"It's not really important."

She tossed him another sassy smile, setting the little coffee table in front of the fire with dishes and utensils, then bringing over a plate of roast and a bowl of rice. "Gonna be a little sparse - I didn't really want to stop while you were unconscious back here."

"I'm more than grateful just because you're feeding me."

* * *

 

* * *

"Are you sure you can do it?" 

"I'm an amputee, not useless."

"Yeah, but you could cook or something. You don't have to chop wood."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I've been here three weeks and you barely let me do anything to make up for your hospitality."

"I don't need you to repay me."

"I know, doll, but that's not the  _point_." He laid the wood on the stump, took one swing with the axe and grinned to himself as it split neatly in two.

"Holy fuck." She muttered, eyes wide in surprise. 

"It's winter in Idaho and you live in a fire-heated cabin in the woods." He left the axe embedded in the stump to look at her. "Can you just let me do this?"

"Only if I can watch. Jesus, can you do it with your shirt off?"

"I've been meaning to ask you about that." He split another log. "All this flirtin' business . . . "

"If it makes you uncomfortable, I can reign it in." She said immediately. 

"It doesn't. Nice change of pace actually."

"Good, because you're a specimen and it would be a damn shame not to let you know it."

He smirked. "I just wanted to know if you had any intention behind it."

She shrugged, the sweater she had intended for him hanging loosely from her form. "My intention was to give you an opening and leave it up to you if you took it. After all, I  _am_ the girl who dragged your unconscious body through the woods."

"Hmm. That's true."

She winked and opened the door. "Give that some thought over your wood-chopping."

"I thought you wanted to watch?"

"Too tempting to touch." She disappeared inside the cabin, leaving him with the still winter air. 

 

 


	3. Rising Action

He woke up to the early morning light, but rolled over. Wolves were evening hunters - he had no use for dawn. 

"At least move back, you're squishing me."

He grunted, shifting back just enough to let her resume breathing. It did allow him better access to her neck, though, so who was he to complain? She smelled so good, especially the longer he was around her. The coconut smell, in particular, was intoxicating. Even pushing six months, he still wanted to bury himself in the smell and just sleep. Fortunate, then, that she had allowed him to sleep with her when winter had kicked into high gear and she wasn't warm enough. 

_"Get over here." She managed through the chattering of her teeth, the storm outside fierce enough to rattle the old windows._

_He went without question, staying far enough away for decency._

_"You jackass." She hissed, yanking him by his only arm to cover her, enfolding her neatly under his bulk. "You're not even shivering."_

_"I'm just better adapted to the cold, I think." He said, trying not to howl at her forward advances. This meant something to Wolves - this meant pack or lover or mate, not just defence against cold. She pressed her back to his chest and settled in, pulling all the blankets in the cabin over top of them._

_Normally, he would overheat in this kind of position, but she was cold to the touch, her lips and fingertips tinting purple. So, instead, he got comfortable with his face pressed into her hair and went to sleep. It would be the best way to pass the storm._

Things hadn't really changed now that spring was rounding the corner into summer. They still shared a bed, usually with her laying on top of him. 

This morning, he stretched over her like a lazy cat, curling his arm low on her waist and tugging her back into him slightly, his hand resting just below her ribs. She hummed, her leg teasing up his as she adjusted to lay more on her side. He let her, tucking his face into her neck. 

"You're like having a big dog sometimes." She chuckled, still sleepy. 

"I am a big dog." He replied, grinning and rubbing his stubble against the sensitive skin just so she would squirm. "I'm a bad dog too."

"In that case," She put some force into it and pushed him right off the edge of the bed, "you're  not allowed on the furniture."

He groaned from the floor. "That was so not fair."

"Neither was you groping my stomach, but we all have our crosses to bear." She giggled, hopping over him lightly. "I finished the thing I was working on last night, so you've got to get up."

"The floor is cold. My nipples are getting hard." He complained instead. 

"They won't be if you get up and see what I made you."

He perked up, could almost feel his own ears shoot to attention. "Made me?"

"Uh, yeah." She nudged him with her foot, smirking. She turned to the dresser, pulling off her sleep shirt - the sweater that hadn't fit him - and pulling on her dayclothes - a band tee with jeans and one of his button downs. "C'mon. I think you'll like it. Well, maybe 'like' is the wrong word."

"Can't you just tell me?"

"Nah. Something you gotta see."

He groaned and rolled onto his back, looking up at her. She was brushing her hair, the black-brown cascade wavy and delightful. He loved her hair. She gazed back at him, her lips quirking up without her knowledge.

"Fine." He got to his feet - something he'd become considerably better at one-handed - and started to dress. She pulled out one of his grey button-downs, but didn't roll up the sleeve for him like normal. She tossed it over her shoulder and waited for him to finish buttoning his jeans. "I need my shirt."

"No you don't."

"You sure you can keep your hands off me if I stay shirtless?"

"You sleep almost naked pressed against me and I have not slept with you yet, nor groped you."

He pouted. What a shot to his pride. 

She softened, winking. "I do actually have a reason for subjecting you to an early morning. Let's go."

He found out early in his time here that she had a little shack set a bit aways from the house that she used as a workshop. It was almost a garage, with a concrete floor and tools everywhere. She had built her ATV there, which was why it had been quiet enough to follow Pierce. She'd built the lighting rigs in the house there, the solar panels they were connected to and the instant water heater. The pipe she'd nailed Pierce with hung up on the wall, now with white paint labelling it the  _Bucky Emergency Pipe_. He didn't really know how to feel about that. 

She opened the side door and led him in, getting him to sit down in her drafting chair, the fun one with wheels. Then she walked over to a bench with a Navy satin sheet on it and hit the overhead light. She pulled the sheet off. 

"No way." He murmured, glad he was sitting. 

"Yeah way." She returned, looking less confident than she had sounded in the house. 

"Tony . . ." He wheeled himself closer, raising his hand to touch it but stopping. "How?"

She shrugged. "I'm a mechanic. It's my job to fix stuff. That stuff doesn't normally mean people, but hey."

He shot up and hugged her, the overwhelming urge to kiss her barely contained. He wanted to roll over, bare his stomach and whine like a puppy - Thor's mercy in all things, she was incredible. 

"I take it you like it?" She hugged him back. He could feel her tentative smile against his shoulder. 

"Oh doll, there has never been a Valkyrie like you." He rumbled, pulling back to gaze at it lovingly.

"Do you want me to put it on?"

"Yes." He breathed. "Please."

"Alright then. Take a seat, Bucky-bear, and we'll get started." 

* * *

He can't take his eyes off it. He's been shirtless for a week and a half simply because he can't not look at it. He loves it, with all of his pretty little heart, and he'd been in paradise since she gave it to him. 

"You gonna kiss those biceps or what?"

He looked up from where he was examining himself to meet her gaze, smirking crookedly. "Rather it be you."

"Already did. When I finished the damn thing."

"I still can't believe you managed to build me a working prosthetic arm."

"What can I say. I'm good at what I do."

"Even for a mechanic, engineer, whathaveyou, this is amazing. You're brilliant, Tony."

She shrugged, lightly rubbing her chest in the way she did when she was a little anxious over something. He'd learned not to address it, or she'd get embarrassed and shut down. "The arm was the easy part. The surgery to attach it? Definitely not my field of study."

He looked at the joint of metal and flesh, taking in the mangled mess of scarring. "You think I care about something like that? I had no arm, was crippled - this is more than I could ever ask for."

"I wish I could have made it out of a plexiglass that matched your skin tone, but with the stress you put your other arm through, I didn't think it would hold up."

"Probably not." He flexed the arm again, watching the effortless way his fingers curled and gripped, as smooth and flawless as his real hand. "What did you make this out of, anyway?"

"Titanium." She replied. "Best metal on Earth."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough."

"Hold off chopping more wood until I've finished making dinner. I wanna watch."

He laughed. "Sure thing, doll."

She flashed a flirtatious grin. "Grab some blueberries while I cook."

"Gotcha."

She vanished back inside the house. He laid the axe down, grabbing a little woven basket and casually strolling into the woods. A few hundred feet away from the cabin was a blueberry bush grove, with the biggest, bluest berries he'd ever seen. He picked from the ripest bush every couple of days, giving them a chance to recover. When the fall would roll around, she'd talked about him gathering all the remaining berries to make preserves out of. She had the forest thing down. 

When he set the basket on the forest floor, there was an unfamiliar, familiar bird cry. He shot up immediately, senses on high alert only for a Red-Tailed Hawk to land before him, it's feathers almost crystalline. 

"Red Wing?" He asked, lowering his guard again. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

 _The pack has returned._ Red Wing informed him, the familiar's voice echoing in his head.  _I will bring them to you._

"Look, don't bring them out here. Pierce is after me and he had backup that he didn't last time, a newer smaller pack of hunters. It's best if we stay apart for a bit."

Red Wing shook his head.  _I will relay Pierce's name, but they will come regardless._

"Red-"

The sassy hawk took off again, leaving him to growl at himself. He should have known this fantasy life with Tony wouldn't last. "Fucking bull-headed Nephilim." He groused, quickingly finishing gathering the berries. 

If the pack knew where he was - and they would, because that stupid bird would tell them - they would come looking for him. They weren't exactly a subtle pack and Pierce would find them, all of them, and it would be over. He would have to leave before the pack could find him. Before anything else could happen.

When he came back to the cabin, he stalled out in the living room.

Tony was standing by the stove, humming softly to herself. The shirt she stole from him had the sleeves rolled up and she was stirring some kind of stirfry with beef, chicken and cauliflower in it. It was so domestic, so charming,  _everything he wanted_. Turning to grab the salt, she noticed him then and offered a pretty smile, unaltered happiness in it.  

All at once, he knew he was fucked. 


	4. Awry Plans

Tony had gone into town a few hours earlier for food and new clothes for him - on account of her own constant theft - and he knew she would be gone for quite some time yet.

As soon as Steve's stupid face appeared in the window, though, it felt like she'd be back any second. 

"I told Red Wing not to bring you." He hissed as soon as he opened the door. "You're in so much danger."

"Hello to you too, jackass." Clint griped. Natasha raised an eyebrow. 

"Fuck you. Pierce is going to know you're here. I told you to stay in Brooklyn."

Red Wing, on Sam's shoulder, looked on dismissively. Stupid bird. 

"Wait, Pierce is here?" Peggy, ever-pragmatic, asked. 

"Yeah."

"How are you still alive, then?" Wanda had never been the most tactful. 

"A human woman saved me. She's been hiding me here. Fuck." He ran his hands through his hair.

"Woah, woah, woah. Where did that come from?" Sam gestured to the glinting metal of his arm. 

"She made it for me."

"How do you plan on shifting with it?" Clint asked. 

"I didn't." He growled. 

"He was going to stay here, live with her." Natasha said it her eerie way. One of Arachne's children, she's always been a little eerie, able to turn into black, poisonous sand at will. It was unsettling to watch her 'shuffle' when she was agitated - she became almost misty in rage.

"Until it was safe, definitely." He sighed heavily. 

Peggy was sympathetic. "You're scared for her safety."

"Yeah. Pierce didn't see her when she clubbed him, but he's not stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. If he finds us, he'll have people here to kill her if she returns."

"Is she in there now? I'd like to meet whoever had the audacity to take a club to the back of Pierce's head." Clint smirked

"It was a pipe, actually."

"Even better." 

"If you're worried, then let's leave now." Sam reasoned. 

"I can't do that." He argued immediately. "I've been with her almost since I returned to the States. I can't just up and leave. She'd probably come looking for me. Not to mention I'll slow you down and this metal arm isn't easy to hide in the summer time."

He froze, an unfamiliar scent on the air. His pack wouldn't know that it was out of place, but he did.

"Get inside the house, right now. Get down." He commanded, running into their room to grab the smartphone she'd given him. He texted her, warning her that something was going down and to be careful on the return home.

"What are you doing?" Wanda asked, her magic already flaring around her. 

"Telling Tony." He snapped, running to close all the window blinds. "I told you to get down!"

"Dude, what are you even-"

The intruder opened fire and it shredded the living room. 

"Wanda?" Steve hissed lowly, scenting her blood.

"I'm good. Just a graze. Very useful." She pulled the blood from the wound, swirling around and insulating the inside of the house with a barrier. 

Natasha dissolved into her puddle form, slithering over to the doorway and laying herself down. One step and she would dissolve the intruder like acid. 

Gunshots from a different angle that didn't breach the house. He checked his phone.  

_You're in luck. I finished at Pepper's early._

He thanked Thor three times for her presence in his life before slinking over to the shattered window, hopping out and dashing at a crouch to her workshop. Hung up on the walls were all varying types of guns. An assault rifle was missing, but they were all biometrically controlled - only coded for his and her uses. 

He came out the other side, where the attacking force had moved, and found Tony crouched behind a concrete barrier. He dashed to her, offering a roguish grin when he got there.

"You're a lot of work, you know that?" She said. 

"Something like that." He replied, kissed her nose, then popped up over cover with his eyes narrowed and breath held. Three bullet bursts, switch target. Four men fell in quick succession. He dropped down and she popped up, firing one shot per head and catching her targets. He didn't know where her training came from, but boy was he grateful she had it. 

"Should I ask where you learned to do that?"

"Probably not." She replied, smirking. 

By the end of the firefight, twenty-one men lay dead on her lawn. 

"That's impressive."

Tony spun around, gun raised, and fired on the person who stepped out of her house. 


	5. Contingencies

Steve managed to pull back enough to avoid a shot to the heart, but she still snagged him before Bucky could get a hold of the rifle. 

"Right in the meat of your shoulder, you cloth-eared nonce." Peggy reprimanded, her accent thickening with judgement now that relief had set in.

"Uh, sorry?" Tony offered, still a little bewildered. 

"It's okay. I deserved that." Steve smiled through his wince as Wanda's magic fished around inside him for the bullet, doing her level best not to syphon from him.

"Yeah, you did." Sam agreed without being asked. 

"She's a good crackshot, though." Clint commented. "I appreciate that in a lady."

"Appreciate all you like, but you won't find a lady here." She replied. 

Bucky laughed, returning from her workshop. "I think some introductions are in order."

"Little bit." She agreed. 

Thankfully, Peggy stepped in, offering a pretty smile. "We're sorry for intruding on your home, but we just got released and wanted to find our old friend. I'm Peggy and that blonde idiot is my husband, Steve."

Steve waved. 

"These others were in unit with us. We became like family of a sort. Sam, Wanda, Clint and Natasha."

"I'm Tony." She waved back. "I gotta wonder how you found him, though. It's not exactly like you'd run into him by accident at a Starbucks around here."

"I'm a falconer." Sam spoke up. "Steve and Bucky grew up out here, so we thought he might come out here to hide. I sent my hawk ahead to find him and he did."

She hid her disbelief well. "Alright, I guess. If Bucky's alright with you, then you're okay. I am totally enlisting your help to fix my house, however."

"Of course." Peggy stepped in. "We are responsible for bringing the hunters to your doorstep. We'll assist you."

She looked over at him and he smiled, so she let the issue drop. 

"For now, bodies aren't the best for being covert. I've got a high-powered furnace in my forge we can use to dispose of them."

"That's incredibly convenient. How many others have been inside that forge?" Clint asked.

She raised her eyebrow at him. "Volunteering?"

"Hmm? Was I saying words again? Geez, so sorry. I'll keep quiet now."

* * *

After the bodies were disposed of, she sat them down in the living room, herself perched on her coffee table. 

"I need to know what you guys are."

Bucky, behind her, stiffened. She glanced at him with a smile. 

"Don't worry, I already know you're a Wolf. The rest of you, however, I need to know what you are. Pierce is pretty well-known so far as hunters go, so you guys did something spectacular to get his attention."

"You mean existing?" Clint griped. Natasha elbowed him sharply. 

"I wasn't exactly lying when I said I was a falconer." Sam said, giving in first. He was the one who lead them here, after all. "I'm Nephilim. My familiar, Red Wing, found Bucky two days ago in the woods."

She nodded. "I thought you might be a conjurer. Good to know you're a little more useful than that."

"Steve and I are the pack alphas." Peggy said, face set in her proper British way. "Bucky is our beta. When he got discharged for his arm, we had to follow. Pierce has been looking to recruit and brainwash Wolves as hunting dogs. That's why he wants us so badly."

She nodded in understanding. 

"I'm a Hawk." Clint said. "A pretty big one, too."

"Sweet. Never seen a Hawk before."

"I'm a Red Witch." Wanda admitted lowly.

"The blood manipulators?"

She winced. "Blood and flesh, yes. I can perform magic with blood and syphon your life force."

"You guys are rare."

"For a reason."

"And you?"

Natasha raised her head, misty eyes flickering. "I'm a devotee of Arachne."

Tony sat forwards. "Now there's something you don't hear everyday."

"I was a Vampire before. I gave her my soul in return for ridding me of it."

"A born Vampire?"

"Unfortunately." Her mists were floating around the room, but Tony's eyes stayed stubbornly locked. "She took the bargain, but I was not specific. She morphed me into a Shade, and I now feed off dreams, rather than flesh. It did accomplish what I asked of her."

"Not to mention the scary spider tricks she gave you." Clint shuddered. 

She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, thank you for bringing that up."

"You seem to know a lot about Ethereals."

Tony smirked. "What can I say, I'm the curious sort."

"You're not . . . upset with us?" Wanda asked, ever-cautious. They'd had her on a pyre once - it payed to be cautious. 

"Everybody has the right to live, don't they?" She smiled at them. "You're alright to lay low here for a bit."

"Thank you. That's most generous." Peggy replied. 

She turned to face Bucky. "Wanna talk for a second alone?"

He nodded and led the way out to her workshop. She followed diligently, closing the door behind them and turning on the desk lamp. 

"How long have you known?" He asked. 

"Pretty much from the start."

"Why didn't you tell me you knew?"

"You were being hunted. I figured once you were comfortable enough you would just tell me." She rubbed her arm. "I'm not the best at this emotions stuff, but thankfully Wolves are easy."

He frowned when she stepped into his personal space. Her smile was nervous, but she cupped his face and pulled him down into a kiss anyway. 

He immediately melted into her, his arms twining around her waist. She whined, fingers tangling in his hair, body pressing in closer. 

"Bucky . . . " She breathed. "I didn't want to start anything with that in the way. If you wanna make good on these last eight months of pseudo-dating we've been doing, now's the time."

"I can't even ravish you properly." He bemoaned. "We've got company."

"Did I forget to mention that this workshop is soundproofed? Huh." Humour faded from her face when she laid eyes on the metal arm. "In all seriousness, I did make this with your shifting in mind. That's why it was such a pain in the ass. You can turn with the prosthetic."

He growled low in his throat, a warm, affectionate sound he'd been keeping trapped for months. "Can I- Can I try it?"

She stepped back. "Absolutely. I wanna see you Wolf it up anyway."

He undid his shoes and discarded his clothes, eager for the taste of his alternate form again. Just as she'd promised, when he began to shift, the plates and hydrolics rearranged themselves into a decent looking leg and paw. Not as impressively accurate as the hand, but it would really only be an issue if it was a hind leg. 

"You're beautiful."

She stared at him in awe, reaching out to stroke through the fur around his head. He was big, shoulder reaching the bottom of her ribs and likely large enough for her to ride. His fur was an inky blue-black, but his eyes were grey ringed in blue. He wasn't as scruffy as she'd expected, sleeker. 

His tail was wagging uncontrollably and he nudged her over to the table, so he could jump and place his fore legs there to rub his muzzle against her neck. 

"We'll need to pencil in sex sometime." She laughed. 

He shifted back standing, turning from nuzzling to kissing her neck, pressed flush against her naked. "How about right now?"

"Only if you promise to play nice."

"I'm a bad dog, but I'm your bad dog, darlin'." He smirked. "I'll do whatever you want."


	6. Game Start

Steve and Peggy's giant Timber Wolves trotted out of the tree line - his a dazzling gold and hers a muted brown with a white mane. Bucky's own breed was Middle Russian, not Timber, but he'd never had any problem running with them. 

"Anything?"

Steve shook his head, angling to wander over to Sam, who was meditating with Red Wing. Peggy rolled back into her human form, gratefully accepting the offered clothes. It was nearing summer, but that didn't make her want to be naked any more than normal. 

"We saw no signs of Pierce, but that's what worries me." She said, hushed. "You said he was recruiting?"

"He had this man with him, Killian. He had fire in his veins."

"Firebreathers."

They both looked over at Tony, who was building a clock out of old radio parts. She glanced up at them. 

"Pardon?" Peggy asked. 

"They're called Firebreathers." She gestured vaguely. "Their chest glows, then it comes up their throats and out of their mouths. Firebreathers."

"How do you know that?" 

"I like to read." She shrugged. 

"But you didn't see any tracks?"

"No." She replied. "Not from anyone."

"Okay. Thanks."

She nodded and went to find Steve. 

He sat down next to her, nudging her shoulder. "Where did you learn all this stuff?"

"I'm chocked full of useless-until-it's-not information." She paused in her work, wincing as she rubbed just above her cleavage.

"You okay?" He asked. 

"Yeah." She smiled, but it was weighted. 

"It hurts." He nuzzled into her, rumbling low in his chest. "Is that why you don't like me touching you there?"

"Yeah." She admitted softly. "And some not-great memories."

He pulled her onto his lap, gently kissing the nape of her neck. "Alright. I'll be gentle when I hug and avoid touching there."

"Thanks." She twisted enough to give him a proper kiss, then went back to her work. 

* * *

Late night runs were one of his favourite things. He'd not been able to indulge them - first, the arm, second, that she didn't acknowledge his Wolf - but he was more than welcome to now. It was wonderful. He loved streaking through the trees, deep in the evening, and putting his sleek muscles to the test. Maybe it was his breed, hardy Russian genes making him antsy, but he loved to do it. 

He slowed down when he caught an unfamiliar sight near the lake. There was a blonde man standing there, in a crisp black suit. He was as pale as the moon, but most of his face was hidden from the angle. He was casually eating blueberries and gazing out over the water. 

He shifted back, combat-ready, and approached the man from behind. "Who are you?"

The man turned and his shining blue eyes lit up the space between them. 

"What are you?" He asked again, somewhat humbled by this strange being. 

"I am Energy." He replied, accent a clear, clean British. His eyes pulsed again, sizzling the air like lightning. 

"An Empyreal." He breathed in awe. 

The man smiled calmly. "Yes."

"What brings of of the Spirits of the Celestials down here?"

"A friend." He replied. "And I like blueberries."

"Do you intend harm to my pack?"

"No." He fussed at the edges, the same blue as a pure day's sky. "I have no such designs."

"Are there others here?"

"Yes." The Empyreal looked across the water. "A Lady of Armour and a Lord of Ash. She is red, and he is grey."

"Are they as hospitable as you?"

"Yes." He smiled dimly, distantly. "We are all here for the same person."

"Who? There are no people in these woods."

"I have been sworn to secrecy, I'm afraid. You will not see much of us again."

He nodded. "I shall leave you to your time, then."

"Thank you, Wolf."

He bowed out and took off back to the cabin. He saw the Empyreal dash off in a blue flurry, but he vanished quickly. 

Tony was just exiting her workshop when he jogged up to the house. He shifted back to his human form and greeted her with an enthusiastic kiss. 

"Are you asking for sex in the workshop again?" She asked, eyebrow raised in good humour. 

"No. Have you ever heard of the Empyreals?"

"No?"

"They're like the Spirits of the Divine World - the Celestials. They come down to dance and play, but usually because they like someone. I met one in the forest, a male who was Energy."

"I guess I have some reading to do." She grinned excitedly with him. 

"I gotta tell Sam. He'll be so jealous." He kissed her again and ducked inside. 

She stayed on the back step a moment longer, taking a lingering look at the quiet, dark woodland with her hand on her chest. 

 


	7. Solidarity

"I've got friends coming over."

Bucky looked up from his Rubik's Cube. "Pep and Jim?"

"You are the only person who gets away with calling him Jim." She snorted. "But yeah."

"Pep and Jim?" Steve asked. 

"Friends of mine, from town. Their names are actually Pepper and James." She rolled up a sleeve and inspected a blueberry. "They own the general store. Where I buy my clothes and tools and the like."

"The town is so small they have a general store." Wanda smirked. "How quaint."

"Don't say that when Pepper gets here. She'll rip you a new one." Tony laughed. 

* * *

"You haven't aged a day." Pepper complained as soon as Tony opened the door. "How do you do it?"

"I stick my head in the creek." She snarked back. "How are you, Pep?"

"Good. There's a reason I asked to come over."

"First step is to get inside." She ushered the other woman in, then hugged the black man that followed her. Her voice softened when she addressed him. "Hey Rhodey."

"Hey Tony." He replied just as softly. 

She broke away from Rhodey, leading them into the living room. "Just so you know, I've got some new houseguests."

"Oh?" 

"Yeah." 

Bucky appeared behind her with a smile. 

"This is the man I helped, Bucky." She gestured to each of them in turn. "This is his old unit. They asked to come see him, so I gave them my address and am hosting them for a bit. Steve, his wife Peggy, Clint, Natasha, Wanda and Sam."

Rhodey shook Bucky's hand. "Nice to finally meet you. I was a Colonel in the Air Force until a crash benched me. Did she manage to finish your arm?"

His eyes widened in surprise, but he pulled up his sleeve to reveal the shining metal. "Yeah, she did. It's amazing."

Rhodey twisted and pulled down his jeans, revealing the metal plating with small blue lights on them. "The crash paralysed me, but she built and implanted these for me. She's amazing."

Pepper smiled and took Rhodey's hand. 

Sam whistled. "That is impressive. And you have my sympathies. I was air support for the unit and lost my wingman to a crash."

"That's rough."

Tony took Pepper's other arm. "So, news first or dinner?"

"News, I think." She was beaming. "I might not be able to hold it in."

Tony lead them over to the spare couch. "Tell me."

Pepper took a deep breath, then smiled wide. "I'm pregnant, Tony."

Tony squealed and rushed to hug the ginger. "Oh my God! That's amazing!"

"Yeah." Pepper's eyes teared up. "I'm so grateful."

"We've been having trouble conceiving." Rhodey explained to Steve. The blonde nodded, patting the other man's shoulder in sympathy. 

"Tell me everything." Tony gushed. "Tell me everything while I get dinner ready."

* * *

_The cave around her swelled with anguish. She'd been left - again. She cupped the small swell of her belly, the warning from the Queen clear and cold, ringing still in the depth of her mines._

_"It's what you deserve. The babe should never have belonged to you."_

_"I never asked for this." She lamented to the swell, to the precious child who would be taken from her. She knew, rationally, that it would only make sense for the babe to go to the palace and be raised well, by those who would know how to teach a hybrid how to live. But this little one, made from all her truest love, she never wanted to let go._

_"You'll only get this mercy once." The Queen had reminded her. "It comes with us, or you will die before it breathes."_

_She would not do that to her own child. She could not compromise her role to the Earth. So, she would hand over the baby, give up her infant and hope from her distant mountains that the Lord Firebreather, King of the Northern slopes, would be merciful to her._

_In truth, she had no idea what would become of her tiny one. After all, what happens when a Firebreather and a Metal Sage come together in union?_

_They would see shortly, she supposed._


	8. Safety Rules

A chill crept up Bucky's neck.

Red Wing was quiet. Steve and Peggy's childish giggling had vanished. Wanda's deathly presence was gone. Natasha's curling smoke was nowhere to be found. Clint's large body wasn't circling above. 

A blonde man with a deep orange tan stepped out of the woods with a smirk. A rodent-like man followed, smirking crookedly and cruelly. 

"Welcome home, puppy." The blonde smirked. "Pierce was a little hasty the last time we met and chased you off all alone. But this will be a little different. There's not going to be any surprises that will save you."

He snarled thickly, his Wolf rippling inside of him. 

"Ah-ah." The blonde retorted, several others of similar colouring to him appearing. His chest lit up, then it travelled to his throat, backlighting his eyes. "Surrender to your betters."

He had enough time to think  _Firebreathers_ before he fell unconscious.

* * *

He woke up in a chair, strapped down with thick bars of metal. He felt worry creep up his neck when he managed to look around, dread settling heavily in his stomach. 

Peggy and Steve were strung up on the walls, wrists shackled together just high enough they couldn't touch the ground. Clint was pinned by the wings to a board, like a dead specimen. Sam hung by the neck from the ceiling, dappled ashen wings limp around him. Red Wing was pinned in the same manner as Clint, but in his own cage. Wanda was in a barred box, a suppressive collar on her throat and bound in a straight jacket. Natasha was in a jar, hissing and swirling vigorously. 

He immediately began to struggle when the men in lab coats appeared. The blonde man was back too.

"You're a very interesting Wolf, Barnes." He hummed, smug and self-satisified. "A decade served in the Forces, medically discharged with High Honours and a Purple Heart, amongst other medals. Even back with your birth pack, you were a vital hunter and a talented defender. Just the kind of man this team needs."

He scowled. 

"Pierce is a hunter, yes." The blonde continued, unaffected by his staunch silence. "But there's a use for everything in this world. We're giving you one chance to join us."

"Join you?" He spit the words like they were lemon-laced poison. 

"Yes." The man smirked again. "You work for us, willingly, and you get to keep yourself and your free will. Maybe even that sexy thing that you've been living with, if you're really good."

"If I refuse?"

"We kill each one of these pets here, cut that girl into little pieces and make you eat her after we've broken your mind." The stranger's smile was still sickly-sweet. 

He snarled and snapped his teeth, but it only made the other man chuckle mirthlessly. 

But he heard it, even over the cruel laughter. Just a whisper, something only Wolves would be able to pick up on from this distance. 

_"Jarvis, if you please."_

Before the blonde man could spit fire to the chorus of Peggy's horrified scream, a neat net of blue webbing caught the flame. When the blonde ran out of breath, the net vanished with it. Standing in its place, protecting Clint's prone form, was the Empyreal from the woods. 

"Energy." Bucky breathed. 

The appearing man turned his electric blue eyes on the captured Wolf with a whisper of a smile. 

"Killian, it's an Empyreal." One of the goons hissed. "What do we do?"

"Attack it, you idiot." The blonde, Killian, spat back. Before he could take another breath, Energy - Jarvis? - was there palm connecting gently to his chest and sending him flying in a shower of sparks. The goons opened fire, but the bullets that would have hit the Empyreal sizzled and dissipated. Those shining eyes took in the scope of the room and the mass of hunters pouring in as Killian struggled to his feet. 

"I am in need of a distraction." Jarvis said. 

_"Your turn, Friday."_

A flurry of red and gold materialized on the far side of the room, collapsing a doorway. The body was indistinct, but it appeared to be a walking suit of armour. 

"Thank you." Jarvis' cool British accent slid across the room. 

"You're welcome!" A chipper female Scot's voice replied. 

_"Drive them out. Kill them in the courtyard."_

"Of course, Sir." Jarvis said. 

"On it, Boss." Friday replied, the armour turning. Bullets ricocheted off her (?) body as she turned to face her enemy, punching one man straight through the wall. 

Fire engulfed the room. 

Killian snarled as he panted, but when the flame died out, Jarvis still stood, calm and blank-faced. Friday had distracted most of the human hunters, so the two beings stared each other down. Colour slowly drained from Killian's face as he watched Jarvis fuzz at the edges, his human facade blurring with the raw energy that was his essence. 

Giant wings broke free from his back, textured in what looked like running code. His blank suit faded to navy, then his pale skin began to glow. A thick humm radiated through the room. 

"Firebreather." Jarvis said, voice echoing from everywhere. "Who have you opened fire upon?"

Bucky's rapt attention was torn away at the familiar scent of coconut and metal. He looked back just in time to see Tony skid to a stop at his chair, yanking on the leather bindings before rushing an opening sequence into the computer hooked up to the chair. 

"Is this you? Are they here for you?"

"My plan was to sneak in here and sneak you out." She said with a rushed smile. "I didn't anticipate all hell to break loose. Are these the Empyreals you ran into in the forest?"

"Energy is." He said. "I don't know the other one. Jarvis and Friday, I think she called them?"

Her head snapped up. "You heard someone give them orders? A woman?"

"Yeah. She was very far away, but I could hear her." He pushed himself out of the chair when the arm bands snapped loose. "I think the terminal holding them is on that console. I'm going to unpin the birds."

"Yeah, okay." She ran over to the console, dodging a shower of sparks  as Jarvis batted Killian around.

Red Wing awoke when his wings were freed, and he helped cut down Sam, who remained unconscious and unresponsive. He was pulling out the stakes in Clint's left wing when the pods opened. Steve and Peggy were by his side immediately, handling Sam, Wanda shaky but okay. 

Natasha ripped out of her cage with a shriek of rage loud enough to make the Wolves whimper. Eyes the same misty blood red as her hair, she swooped down upon Friday's assaulters. once in their midst, she turned into millions of tiny, poisonous spiders. It was frightening to watch the black swarm overtake a person, bring them down and leave them a hollow shell. It was even more disgusting to watch her switch back to mist, shove herself down their throat, then push out from inside. 

"C'mon, we have to go." Tony ushered them out. "Nat! Come on!"

With a final hiss, Natasha swept off to join the pack.

"What about them?" Wanda asked. 

"Just go! They can take care of themselves." 

Bucky lingered, waiting for her to come. 

"What part of go did you miss, you stupid dog!" She yelled, pushing him through the door just as the ceiling cracked and fissured. It wouldn't be long. "Go!"

"Antonia. What a pleasant surprise." The weasel man sneered. "And here we thought Gregory had killed you."

"Nope." She yelped, sprinting toward the exit, Bucky hot on her heels. 

"He spared me the pleasure." The weasel grinned. "Even found a mate? How considerate of you to make yourself an easier target."

"Ultron, shut that cocksucker up!" She barked. 

"With pleasure." A rough voice answered her command. When Bucky spared it a backward glance, the monster was huge, looking something like unfinished steel with molten ingot flowing through him. It was only as of Ultron finished materializing that he realized it was  _ash_ that he was made of.

"Pay attention!" Tony snapped, yanking him with considerable force. "We have to go. They'll bring the building down."

* * *

Tony led them to an old dam-like structure to hide in. 

"How did you know about this place?" Peggy asked. 

"I've lived here a long time." She replied cryptically. 

"The Empyreals, they responded to you." Wanda noted. 

"Yup." She replied briskly, wrapping gauze on Clint. 

"I thought humans didn't make contact with Empyreals." Wanda continued. 

"And that man seemed to know you. Called you Antonia." Natasha pointed out. 

"He did." She confirmed. 

Bucky stopped her with a gentle touch to the arm. "Baby, tell me what's going on."

"Soulmate marks. Wolves get them, sometimes they're significant to a non-Wolf partner." She blurted. "Well, I've seen yours and it's because of me."

The room fell silent. 

"It's called an Arc Reactor, and I built it to contain Empyreals."

"Tell me, baby. Tell me everything." He pleaded. 

"Did it you ever hear about the fall of Wakanda?"


	9. Everything

Everything was perfect for Maria. She had two lovely, powerful sons. Arno and Gregory were everything she could have ever asked for. 

Then Howard went and fucked that Metal Sage and now her whole world was crooked. 

"Find a use for your mistake, and don't ever seek my company again." She told him, repulsed and disgusted. How the King of the Firebreathers could stoop so low as to whore himself out was beyond her. 

But worse than that, when fire and metal came together, they created the rarest of creatures. Antonia's little girl - whom she would name after her mother out of malice and spite - was a Forgespeaker. 

She would be an asset as she got older - after all, monopolizing someone capable of creating Vibranium was worth the hindrance the girl would cause. 

* * *

The castle had been huge and grand, made out of silver. 

She'd been banished to an outlying corner, to her forge and the little loft above it. She didn't mind it there, even being all alone. The metal sung to her and often she could lose days just drawing what she planned to create. Her brothers didn't like her much, Gregory in particular, but that was also fine. She didn't see much of anyone anyway. Even the maid that brought her food refused to speak to her. No matter. 

She was six when Jarvis had materialized in her ceiling. She was drawing in the loft when her power supply was cut and her lights went out. There were no windows, and the light of the forge fires was low and dull with the time of day. 

"Does this help you, sir?" A voice spoke and a blue man appeared in the rafters with a gentle smile. 

"You're really bright." She murmured. 

His fingertips brushed her cheek affectionately. "Only for the brightest stars."

Jarvis remained with her, floating in and out, but a steady presence. He was also the first one to answer when she called his name. 

"The name of an Empyreal is a great gift." He explained. "It is a sign of trust and care. 

Friday walked into her life when she was twenty-one, shielding her from a molten iron bubble. 

"Be more careful, boss." She said, shaking off the iron easily. She should - she was a beautiful set of red and gold armour. 

She came in contact with Ultron the first time her forge died out, at fifty-seven. 

"Oh. What are you doing in there?"

"I was keeping the forge hot." He said, sounding defeated. "But I ran out of fire."

"No need to give up hope." She said with a smile. "There's plenty of use for ashes, too."

For most of her life, those three were her only source of socialization, the only ones who cared for her. But that didn't mean she didn't have responsibilities. 

* * *

"Antonia." 

The name cracked across her like a whip. The others called her Tony, like she preferred, but not out here. Never out here. She was a monument to Howard's mistake, the only flaw in the Stark kingdom and by Asgard above, did they want her to know it.

She knelt. 

"We have a task for you." Howard announced. They all loomed over her, taller and fiercer because they were pureblooded Firebreathers and she was just a Forgespeaker. 

"Command and it shall be done." She answered. 

"I require an Arc Reactor for the forging of a Kingmaker."

Oh. That was simple enough. "Anything specific I should know before I set hammer to anvil?"

"The chosen golem is roughly your size. Make it small."

She nodded. 

"You're dismissed."

She stood and left with all dignified haste. 

Kingmakers were generally the province of White Sages, monks who practised pure magic and lived in pairs in the mountains. Each kingdom had a Sage pair in their borders, and around them, golems would form from the purified clay. In times of great crisis or need, a king would order the commission of a Kingmaker from his White Sages. 

Generally, the Sage would chose an appropriate golem, commission an Arc Reactor to house an Empyreal. That full Reactor would then be magically inserted into the chest of the golem, who would take on sentience and the power of the Empyreal. This golem would then go to the King and decide if what the King needed it to do was just. If it was, it would go and accomplish this task. If not, it would kill the King and chose a new leader. They were a gamble, one not often risked. 

She didn't know what use Howard would have for one, but that wasn't her business. Three hundred years in the kingdom and still a stranger. 

She would make the Reactor as if it was to be her own. 

* * *

"Your task has been chosen for you, Sage." Gregory snarled, throwing the smaller man into the dungeon cell. "Do as you were told, or both of you will die."

He flinched when the door was slammed in his face, then turned to face his  _assigned task_. 

"My the tender mercies of Frigga." He rushed over to  the girl on the cot. Her breathing was shallow, much of her ribcage shattered, and the rest of her beaten within an inch of death. She had possibly a week, if he was treating her with his magic. 

"Yinsen."

He turned and saw his old friend standing behind him. "Jarvis?"

"You know what they want to do to her." Jarvis stated. 

He swallowed. "I do. But what he does not realize is that there is a reason it must be done on a golem."

"I know." Jarvis looked miserable. "I cannot ask you to commit to that sacrifice."

"Is it just you, my friend?"

"Armour and Ash are also here. She matters to us all. She is brilliant."

"Three?" It was neigh-unheard of. 

"Yes." Jarvis moved over to her bedside and pulled off a strip of blanket, revealling the empty Reactor slotted into a crudely cut hole in her sternum. A week had been too optimistic. 

But his mate was dead, and one Sage without the other was doomed anyway. 

"If I do this," he said, "you will be trapped there, forever, bound to her as long as the device holds."

"We know." Jarvis said, the two phasing into being behind him. "We made our choice. What is yours?"

* * *

The scream of pain and anguish was so loud and so strong it shook the chandelier in the throne room. 

It took Gregory, Arno and a handful of guards to wrangle the Kingmaker, bring it up from the dungeon and drop it graceless at the monarch's feet. 

"Stand." Howard commanded. 

It rose to its feet, unsteady and pitiful. 

"Face me."

It moved the hair from its face and sunken, haunted eyes stared Holloway back at him. 

"And what of the Sage?"

"He is nowhere to be found." Gregory supplied. 

"I wish I could have congratulated him. This is fine, fine work." The Reactor was three-pronged, glowing a vibrant blue. 

"Antonia." Maria snapped and it flinched. "The least you can do is make yourself presentable amongst your betters."

Her eyes flashed and she was encapsulated in armour, the tiles of the floor shattering as sharpened spires of condensed ash broke through the floor. 

"They're so loud." She whispered. "So many of them."

"Speak sense." Howard demanded. 

Gregory took a threatening step forward. What was left of her remembered well the violence of his hand. She skittered back, a shield of blue energy raising between them. 

"She's got an enormous range of power." Arno commented idly. "That will prove useful."

"Antonia." Howard got her attention again. "If you wish to remain in the light of day, you will do as I say."

" . . . Yes."

"Your first mission will be to Wakanda."

She seemed so small there, terrified like a beaten dog. "What am I to do?"

"Kill the King. Kill anyone who attempts to stop you."

* * *

Each step was torture, and she cried the whole way through. 

_No!_

_This is not just._

_Kill the greedy king, leave this place._

_Tony, sweet child, you do not need to listen to him._

"I have to." She cut down another Dora Milaje. "I have to. He'll take the Reactor out and I'll die. You'll be trapped there."

 _He can't hurt you._ Yinsen cooed in her ear.  _You are a Kingmaker. Nothing can hurt you._

She pushed through the castle, entering the throne room to find T'Chaka standing tall. 

"So, Howard has sent a Kingmaker to me."

Her face was helmeted. She's supposed to be a white clay golem - that's how Kingmakers are made. She nodded. 

"Might I ask what crime he accuses me of that you have seen committed?"

She walked forwards, one of Ultron's blades extending from her arm. She didn't know why Howard wanted T'Chaka dead. The Wakandans were ever-cordial. She doesn't have an answer, so she continued onward. 

"That's a no, then." He waved off the Queen, the Dora Milaje and his young son. She remembers the gangly teen T'Challa from his visit over at the palace - the only one interested in watching her forge Vibranium. 

"Papa, no!" T'Challa cried. 

"It is as it must be." T'Chaka bowed with grace as she mounted the dias.  He raised his face to meet hers. "I ask only that it is clean and swift. This is already hard."

She had control of the Empyreals inside of her - from now on she always would - but Friday's emotions mirrored her own and won out. The helmet vanished and her own tortured face was revealed. 

"I don't know why." She whispered as she stood over him. "Howard wants you dead enough to make me. I'm so sorry."

"You're his little girl."

She choked on her words, dropping to her knees to face him. The force of her fear drove her arm forward, the only one letting out a sob of anguish as she did. 

"Howard never deserved you." T'Chaka said, sympathy in his eyes even as he stared down his murderer. "I hope you will be the vessel of his undoing, Forgespeaker. May one of my kind give you back your own purity."

He failed there, in her arms, her blade still spearing his body. She lay over him, sobbing intensely enough  to silence the rest of the room. 

Queen Ramona passed her son to a Dora, lowering her pregnant body next to that of her husband and taking the hand of his killer, still coated in his blood. "Kingmaker."

She looked up, eyes rapidly shifting colour. 

"Whatever Howard has done to make you an abomination, I do not know. And you know my husband did not deserve to die." Her voice is kind, but her tone is firm. These are facts. "Regardless, you have been changed. And your purpose is now different. Kingmaker, I ask you for a judgement."

She wiped her eyes, taking a breath. Kingmakers don't speak much, but Jarvis, Friday and Ultron echo together in her mind what the response should be, what they would say. "What action shall I sentence, Queen?"

"Howard Stark unjustly attacked my kingdom."

The three speak together again, layering in together and almost overpowering enough to physically knock her down. 

"He dies." She spoke their words, head ringing in approval. 

* * *

She had never understood why Howard was so threatened by Wakanda. They were the birth nation of weres, the Shifters. Ruled for millenia before her by the Panthers, they had never been anything but cordial and family-oriented, never wishing ill-will on anyone nor looking to start fights. 

T'Chaka was killed for greed, but of what. Howard didn't do anything without a purpose. 

"You're returned." Howard stood from his throne, Arno and Gregory looking down their noses at her. 

She didn't reply. She was busy.

He frowned. "Is the King dead?"

"Very soon."

Maria stood with a scowl. "Answer him properly, Antonia."

"Very soon, Lord." She replied. She was almost done. 

Gregory stepped forward, anger in his eyes and fire in his throat, when the rumbling began. 

Arno looked down at the floor, trying to determine the source of the vibration. Gregory looked back over his shoulder at his mother for instruction. Howard glanced around in confusion. Maria stared at her in fury. 

"Antonia," She said, voice low and threatening, "What have you done?"

"I have been sent by a Queen." She replied, voice steady with her mask in place. God's, she loved Friday. "I have been asked to pass a judgement."

Maria snarled. "You let Ramonda live?"

"It is my duty as a Kingmaker to answer the calls of those who keep a kingdom, to decide if they are fit to remain there." It was like Jarvis was speaking through her. Ultron's satisfaction was intense, even if he was busy. "She has asked me about you."

Gregory bellowed fire at her, but once he was out of breath, she remained there, steadfast and unmoved. Not a mark on her to be found. Vindication of her Celestial transcendence. His face paled in worry and again, he looked to Maria for orders. 

"What will you do?" Howard asked. 

"The hydra does not die by cutting off one head. It all must be burned." She cocked her head. "Fire does not affect you, so you must go right to your grave."

"Stop speaking in riddles." Arno demanded. 

Jarvis' wings burst from her back and she lifted from the ground just as the rumbling got louder, the vibrations turned to shaking and pillars, floor and ceiling cracked asunder. 

"I will bury you." She replied. "Ash has many uses."

The ceiling split apart above her, but she remained where she was, allowing the magnificent silver castle to fall around her, taking everything with it. Her sire, her biological relations, the entire governmental structure of the Stark kingdom. 

It collapsed, the entire top-heavy structure, on top of everyone in the castle. 

She landed on the rubble, gentle, and knelt to press her hands to the settling stone. With a rush of power, she turned it all to ashes. 

* * *

She returned to Wakanda a few years later, void of her mask and armour. 

"Antonia." Ramonda greeted, surprised. 

"They're gone." She confirmed what was likely already old news. "But I . . . Do not feel right."

Ramonda smiled softly, baby Shuri tucked against her breast. "I know, sweet one."

"I know your castle sits upon a huge iron ore deposit." She hesitated, but took a deep breath and continued. "With your blessing, I would like permission to turn it into Vibranium."

Her eyes widened. "All of it?"

"Yes." She looked down. "I did not lose my abilities as a Forgespeaker when he made me a Kingmaker. Please, let me try to give you something that will change your country for the better this time."

Ramonda nodded. "We accept your gracious offer, Kingmaker."

"I will not be long, I assure you." She allowed T'Challa to show her the way to the deposits, and did her best to focus under his attention. 

"It was always fascinating to watch you work." T'Challa admitted when she was slumped over, exhausted from finishing her work. 

"I'm not that interesting." She replied, pushing herself sluggishly to her feet. 

"If I did not already know my mate, I might have believed you would be her." He said. "I know you killed my father, and the act is unforgivable. But I know there is a difference between a planned murder and a soldier's orders. You are not to blame."

"I don't know about that." She sighed. "I could have resisted the order. I should have."

"My mother wants to offer you sanctuary here."

"No. I can't." She looked away. "I can't endanger you any further. The remains of the Firebreathers will be enough."

"Then where will you go?"

"Another continent. Somewhere the kingdoms aren't." She replied. 

* * *

Two thousand years later, she got off her ATV and cracked Alexander Pierce on the back of the head with a length of pipe. 

 

 

 


	10. What Truth In Legend

They all sat in stunned silence. 

"Wow." Bucky breathed. She flinched. 

"Congrats." She shrugged uncomfortably. "Your soulmated to the Clement Kingmaker."

"I didn't even know Kingmakers were a thing. Or Forgespeakers." Clint muttered, sitting up. "Barely knew about Firebreathers."

"Killian, the blonde, is a Firebreather." She said. "He was a baby when Stark fell."

"Tony Stark." Wanda mumbled. 

"Yup." She smiled tightly. "Patricide, regicide, homicide, genocide, I'm the entire package."

"Wait," Peggy narrowed her eyes. "You think you did something  _bad._ "

"You make it sound like I didn't." She shook her head. 

"What in that story makes you a bad person?" Peggy demanded. 

"I'm responsible for a lot more than the collapse of the Firebreathers and the Stark Empire." She insisted. 

"Doll." Bucky cut in, shutting down the repatriation and self-loathing. "I love you."

Her face shut down. 

"I do." He insisted. "I could honestly care less what happened thousands of years before I was born. I don't care you killed some ancient king of my ancestral homeland. I don't care if what you did led to the rise of the hunters. You're my soulmate. I love you."

She knelt down in front of him, gently reaching out to touch his face. "It should matter."

"It doesn't." He leaned into her touch. "I love you. With all my heart. And I know you love me too."

Her mask cracked. "Yeah, I do."

"Then let it go. Embrace what you are."

She ran her fingers along his arm. "This is Vibranium. I made it with my magic instead of human engineering. Vibranium is created easiest from other metals. All I had was dirt and wood, which took forever to smelt into the amount necessary."

"I thought it looked different." Natasha commented, docking her head. 

"Amazing." Steve inspected the arm with new wonder. 

"What's our next move, then?" Peggy asked. 

"We find somewhere else to hide." 

"You're kidding." Clint deadpanned. 

She frowned. "Why would I be kidding?"

"You're a self-admitted badass with  _three_ Empyreals at your disposal. Why don't we just mow those nosy fuckers down?"

"No!" She hissed. "I've already made this bigger than it has to be by using them as distractions. If a full-blown Kingmaker makes an appearance - let alone someone as distinct as  _me_ \- the entire fucking world will turn it's gaze on us. It took me three centuries and a mastering of White Sage magic to be able to hide myself effectively."

"But, it's all over." Sam caught her gaze. "Right? It's done."

"Memory is a long thing. Kingdoms still stand, small and secluded though they are. And should I reappear, they will come looking. I am a legend among my own kind and that was something I never desired."

"If I had the power to kick ass and save my people from being run down like animals, I would take it." Clint insisted. "What the hell are you so afraid of?"

Energy flared off her, plastering them to the walls and shrinking the room in on her. The darkness grew, deep and thick and choking. The walls cracked and groaned under the pressure of an invisible force and distant pipes broke and screamed. Stillness took the room and her appearance shifted - skin hazing from the human tone to something grey, ashen, with eyes of shifting colours. Her voice seemed to come from everywhere when she spoke. 

"I'm afraid of myself." She cocked her head at him, tendrils of ashes reaching out to leave soot smears across his cheek. "You ask me if I could - both of us knowing the answer - but you take no time to consider if I should. Tell me, pretty bird, what do you think of absolute rule under an unkillable immortal so strong she can kill others of her kind? Does that sound appealing? To know that I would become your throned god, untouchable by even divine intervention?"

All at once, it snapped back into place and she was just a woman in an oversize hoodie and jeans, standing in a maintenance room of an abandoned dam. 

"I don't want to be Howard." She said softly. "I don't want to rule you. But to crush the hunters and provide sanctuary requires a government. I don't want that responsibility, or to be someone else's enforcer."

"You may not get a choice." Natasha pointed out.

"Then I'd like to live in simple bliss a little longer." She retorted, sharper than was absolutely necessary. 

"I get the impression you were never meant for a simple life." Steve joked. 

She scowled so sharply and so darkly that the room went quiet again. "I guess not."

"Baby, we have to do something about Pierce. Even just to go back to the cabin." Bucky said, stepping up and into her personal space. 

She looked away. "I can hide us until he dies."

"That doesn't get rid of him."

"It's thirty years, tops. You won't even notice it."

"And where would this untouchable hiding place even be?" Wanda asked. 

"I never said untouchable. But it's as good a place as any until he dies. And for your information, it's in Canada."

"Canada's the second largest country in the world. Where in Canada?"

"Northern Alberta. Good mountains, woodlands. Everything we had here."

"You'd leave behind Rhodey and Pepper?" Steve asked, astonishment colouring his voice. He'd always brought his family with him. 

"If they know or I stay, they die." She shrugged. "They'll get over me."

Bucky took her hands. "Pierce has Ethereal backup. He's not just a normal hunter. We've got to destroy his clan, if nothing else."

"No. Too much attention."

Natasha's head snapped up. "You've already got attention."

Jarvis appeared before them, wings raised defensively. The door to their small room opened and a man in a black cat suit walked in. Jarvis lowered his defences, looking back at Tony. 

"Sir?"

"It's okay."

He vanished, and the man removed his helmet. He was a sharp looking African man, his smile melancholy but pleased. 

"Kingmaker, it has been quite some time."

"Black Panther." She inclined her head. "What brings you all the way out of Wakanda to see me?"

"Shuri caught flares in the Midwest and believed it was you. We've been trying to find you for centuries, but you are very good at hiding when you wish not to be found."

"Apparently not." She grumbled. "What did you want me for, anyway?"

"The Dora Milaje found  a clan of hunters, jointly led by humans named Pierce and Klaw, who have been sniffing at our borders. They have Ethereal allies, ones of your father's."

She straightened, the room darkening. "Who?"

"Obadiah Stane and Jack Hammer."

She hissed and began to swear in a musical language none of them were familiar with. 

"I have assumed the throne, Kingmaker, and so I have come to beseech you." He knelt down on one knee. 

She swallowed, looking physically pained. "State that which you wish me to judge."

"Stane and Hammer lead the humans and incite them to violence. I ask you to judge their traitorous actions, Kingmaker."

She rubbed her chest, wincing. "Fuck."


	11. Equinox

"I stand atop a mountain of ashes and I see the distance clouded over. In the twilight of life and death, I stand and judge, reign over the mortality of nations and see to the fall of empires. I watch the encroaching forces and step over their corpses to stick my hand in the chest of their lord and tear from him his heart." She took a breath, staring out over the low plains from the foothills. "And in the wake of all that sacrifice and death, when that lord of powerful beings stares at me as his life hastens away, he will see that not only am I unharmed, but untroubled by his efforts. In that despair, he will die, knowing that he was slain hours before he met me."

He laid his hand on her shoulder. "Of anyone to see the coming storm, you know I will stand next to you and hail the coming catastrophe openly."

"I know." She smiled at him. "Were it so simple as to have an emperor of Ethereals who grasped for the guidance of stars instead of the enslavement of man."

"Were anything ever so simple and lovely." 

"A philosopher in the body of a Berserker. What strange fortune."

His smile was rueful. "Indeed, what fortune."

* * *

She's standing on top of the dam and she felt shittier than she had in a long time. This day fucking sucked, and the fucking Reactor ached from the exercise. 

"What do you plan to do?"

"I don't fucking know." She ran her hands through her hair. "It all sucks ass."

T'Challa chuckled lowly. "Human custom has worn off on you."

"They're efficient, I'll give them that." 

"But you've no plan?"

She sighed. "You were too young to join the battle of the Equinox. You don't know what that was like."

"Mother told me tales."

"I'm sure she did. But she wasn't there either."

"Who was?"

"Just me and a friend."

"What happened?"

"We brought the world to its knees."

* * *

"The shadows take to you well."

"It's the sin chasing my heel."

He chuckled. "I'm sure it is your abundant charm that sways them so."

"Two impossible forces stand together on a hilltop, watching bemusedly as our enemy gathers hence their hosts. What will they say, do you imagine?"

"They will say it was a clash of armies." He decided. "They will tell the tales like legends of mystics, paints us as scarpering thieves and demons, come to rob the light."

"They will write us as villains." She mused. "And perhaps we are. Such are those who fell kingdoms."

"Wakanda and Latveria had no such issues. Neither, might I add, did Genosha."

"Yours was so scared they killed themselves to make a defender for their ruins."

"I am not enamoured with the course of my life and could be persuaded to choose another. Have you, perchance, a highway amongst your many gifts?"

"Had I one, Bruce, you should be the first to receive it."

"I am grateful for your kindnesses."

"What fate has wrought, shall we tear asunder, friend of mine?"

"Onwards, to bathe in the blood of the desperate and run the river red with their predictable outcome."

"Onwards, Prince of the Seers."

* * *

"The trouble with empires is the kings. Always the kings." She sneered. "Brian Banner was one of the cruelest men I ever knew, especially for being a Seer."

"A Seer?"

"Seers saw all manner of things hidden to normal eyes." She crossed her arms, as if against the sudden winds, though he knew she could not actually feel their chill. "One I knew saw through people's bodies, one could tell the future from dreams, Betty could see the astral planes of the stars. But the Prince was the brightest of them all, the most powerful in a long time."

"What did he see?"

"Souls. The dangerous thing about strong Seers, however, was that sometimes they could control that which they saw. Bruce could. When he refused to use it, Brian began to beat him. Once or twice, Bruce nearly died. But Brian could see life force, and knew just when to stop."

"I've never heard of the Seer Kingdom."

"They were from what is now Spain and Portugal." She scowled. "After Stark fell, Brian rightfully became fearful that I would take vengeance on him for his assholery. He gathered up all the peasant Seers and had a Red Witch cast a spell. He transformed Bruce into a Berserker - a mutated one-man warzone with no conscience and only one objective. He turned Bruce into the Hulk."

The soft noise T'Challa let out made her mouth twist even more. 

"Yeah. Bruce is real. In the end, only Bruce's control over his own soul saved him. And the Hulk liked me."

"What happened to the kingdom?"

"Having sacrificed the lives of the people who did all the hard work, the kingdom fell immediately into famine and strife and crumbled swiftly. Bruce left it all behind and travelled with me. Two abominations, Alone win the world."

"Where is he now?"

"He lives in Nevada, by a spring he's monopolized. Seers are undetectable by human hunters and the Hulk is unkillable."

"My mother said Berserker were hard, but not impossible."

"Well, technically, she was right. I could have killed him. Empyreals can kill him. Others would not find the same measures of success before he crushed them."

* * *

To walk across a battlefield littered with bodies was a feeling unlike any other. Stepping over corpses the same way one would a log or large branch, as if an ordinary obstacle or just an inconvenience. 

The miles of corpses stretched mostly behind her. Hulk had been more than pleased to be given leave to go ahead of her - Berserker hungered for new souls to absorb and feed from - and had relished every moment of the carnage. 

The remains of many peoples were here - Firebreathers, Seers, Casters, some rogue Shifters, Witches of all colours, Sages of many designations, some golems even, Waterbodies, Dragonites and Devotees of hundreds of creeds. Vampires, shades, warlocks, angels, demons, Nephilim, familiars, Prophets, Shadowcasters -  all at war amongst each other for thousands of years, now laid to waste in the open plains of the North-West Prairie. 

"What becomes of this world now that your war is over, Kingmaker?"

She seen the tribe of Originals on her way in, from the foothills to meet the coming storm. Their lands had been ripped apart by the battle, their balance scattered. 

"It is over here, not elsewhere." She let the helmet melt away. She was known to them from the moment of her birth - there was nothing to hide from them now. 

"What other land is there for you to break?" They ask. 

"It is not land that breaks next. It is spirit. And even I would not do that to this land."

The Originals bowed their heads, feathers and beads catching in the evening sun and the rushing mountain winds. "Where do you plan to go next, Kingmaker?"

"I am going to crush Obadiah."

"And of the millions that stand between you and he?"

"I can't deign to be afraid of blood now."

"And for the Berserker? The experiment of rage?"

"Bruce?" She looked down at her hands. "Bruce is going to sleep. He's done enough."

"Who will you leave standing, when all this is done? Often it is forgotten that those you leave victorious are just as important as those you leave defeated."

"I plan to leave only Wakanda."

"Watch the fate you create, the legacy you leave, Kingmaker." They turned from her. "This is the Equinox of your life, and your decisions now will decide whether it is winter or summer you continue through."

She bowed to them. The Originals, jingle dresses and feathers rustling in the wind, nodded back. "I will hold your counsel close to my chest. I will not war here again."

"Thank you." They left her then, back into their woodlands to try and repair the damage done to their heartland. 

She looked back out over the sea of corpses, sickness rising in her throat. But she was responsible for the half not turned into a fine paste, their blood still dripping down her armour. 

"To ashes, then." She held out her hand and Ultron scattered over the field. "Let the earth reclaim you. To ashes with the fallen so you may yet spring again. To ashes."

* * *

Blanketed in quiet grey, stillness kept to the land for many years. Earth reclaimed her kin and slowly it shifted, blades of grass and shoots of trees blooming obstinately against the cold damp of past injuries. 

Thousand of years would pass, but her promise would be broken. She would raise arms against an enemy in a forest of fallen souls. The only landmark a small cabin and a workshop, the dead hunters to an incinerator as to not despoil the gravity of the massacre. 

The Equinox led her days to wane and it was in those memory-haunted woods that she found the sun, a broken man with no arm running from death. He met her in the darkness of winter, but his spirit was not content to let hers linger there. 


	12. A Standing Requisition

She walked into the main room of the dam, looking less than thrilled and more than a little pained. 

"Have you made your decision?" T'Challa asked, standing to meet her. 

"I have." She took a deep breath, relaxing as she breathed out. "Jarvis says Klaw is the one who's bothering you. I will go, and he will die. Him, his clan, and all of his internal supporters, Ethereal or not."

"I understand." If she was bringing it up, there would be Wakandan casualties too. 

"I just hope you understand what this means. Not just for you, but for me too." She ran a hand through her hair. "Bucky, I want to talk to you. Outside, if you don't mind."

"Yeah, sure." He got up and followed her back out, overlooking the wilderness. 

"I'm going to give you a GPS programmed with coordinates. It's going to lead you to a small cabin in Jasper National Park in Canada. I want you to go there, with the pack, and stay until I come get you."

"Tony-"

"You are in real danger, Buck." She turned her gaze on him and he felt the weight of her words keenly. "Pierce knows where I live. He'll be watching. You have to go somewhere else, and quickly. The GPS has a second and third emergency location programmed into it. You can go to those if he manages to follow you on the route it'll tell you to take."

"Is all this really necessary?" He took her hands. "I know you're powerful and dangerous, but will your reappearance really be this bad?"

"I've been running from this since before the invention of irrigation." She smiled weakly. "The kind of people old enough to want me dead still are the kind that could tear apart the world. And the last thing I ever want is for you to find out the true scope of what that means."

He swallowed. "How long will you be gone?"

"A month, probably. Maybe two. Depends on who I have to hunt out and where they're at."

He bowed his head. "Okay. But you have to promise to come back."

Her smile was tumultuous. "I'll never leave you. I love you, Bucky."

He pulled her into his arms. "I love you more, Tony."

* * *

"Are you okay, Kingmaker?" T'Challa asked, standing at her shoulder as they walked towards his jet. 

"Not really." She didn't look at him. "I'll meet you back in Wakanda. I have a few stops to make first."

"I can fly you, if you'd prefer."

Gold and red armour overtook her, blazing blue wings sprouting from her back in a palpable burst of energy. "Not necessary. Tell Ramonda I won't be long."

"I will, Kingmaker."

* * *

Bucky watched her vanish from the top of the damn, his blue eyes tracking her long after she'd vanished. The pack, behind him, shifted uncomfortably. 

"So, we're going back to her cabin, right?" Clint asked, perched on Steve's shoulder. 

"No." He shifted and shook out his fur. "We go north."

* * *

The mountain was in the middle of the desert, accessible only by a small vent in the clouds. Marks could still be seen from where the current inhabitant had climbed in, save that it had been eroded by time, softened. 

She let herself in without announcement. 

"It's been a long time, sweetheart, but I need you awake and in motion."

He didn't look up. "Hello to you too."

She sat down next to him. "Three thousand years staring down at the Well of Souls. Think you'd have gotten bored and wandered off."

"You know me." He nudged her with his shoulder. "I'm the commitment type."

"Do I ever."

They sat in silence for a moment longer. "So, who's in trouble now."

"Stane's back. Him and Hammer." Her mouth twisted in disgust. "They, very rightly, believe attacking Wakanda will draw me back out."

He frowned. "Why now, after all this time? You're obviously no threat."

"They have stirred some human hunters into a frenzy. Pierce is an ex-military man, believes the Ethereals are raising an army. Klaw is an arms dealer and wants in on Wakanda's supply."

"Right, right. I forgot you gave them Vibranium."

She snorted. "Yup. Seems to have served them well, though I think they have a Metal Sage, because T'Challa's jet was far too advanced for them."

"Probably." He took a deep breath. "What do you need me for?"

"Ultron has a gut feeling." She met his gaze. "He's not sure, but he feel one of them, the Odium."

He paled. "No, but- the Princess killed them all. And when the King came for you, you killed him."

"I did. But we don't know what happened to the Princess, or the scorned Prince that followed her."

"Shit." He ran a hand through his hair, the curls as wonderful as they had always been. "What do you need me for?"

"If my math is correct, and it always is, the Second Prince is going to attack Wakanda while I'm busy with Klaw and the Ethereals working with him. He's going to try and kill Ramonda, T'Challa, Shuri and probably even N'Jadaka."

"N'Jadaka survived?"

"T'Challa invoked Bast and she saved him." Her smirk was crooked. "I don't think he could ask for a more loyal or dangerous advisor. Ramonda oversaw his recovery."

"Ah." He swallowed thickly. "Do they know you came for me?"

"No. I would have gotten the Princess directly instead of pulling you from your soul home, but you know as well as I do that she's intent on not being found. I'm also a little low on time."

"Yeah. I'll keep an eye out for the Prince."

"Thanks." She stood. 

"Next time you drop by, try and make it for a social visit?"

"You got it, Brucie-bear."

* * *

Across the world, in a run down apartment in San Fransisco, a woman awoke in a cold sweat. 

**He's on his way.**

"No. He can't have found us."

**He doesn't have to. He found a new target. We have to go.**

"We can't. We can't go back."

**We will not get a choice, eventually.**

* * *

"Oh hey."

The pack froze, Steve and Peggy immediately dropping into a growl. 

"No, no! You don't have to do that. I know you guys!" From out of the tree crawled a teenager, four extra legs sprouting from his waist red and blue. "Hey Miss Natasha!"

Bucky shouldered to the front. "Holy shit, Peter?"

"Yeah!" He dropped down, giving them a sweet wave. 

"What are you doing out here?"

"Miss Tony asked me to make sure you got to the house okay. I've been watching it while she's been away."

"You know Tony?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! She introduced me to Wade! He's my soulmate."

"An Ethereal?"

"Technically." Peter beamed. "He's Fallen."

"Oh Christ." Sam muttered. 

"Tony did so?" Natasha asked. 

"Mmm-hmm." Peter nodded resolutely. "Come on! I'll introduce you! The place isn't that much further."

"We're in for a treat now." Clint muttered from Wanda's shoulder as he took off again. 

 

 


	13. Fear And Loathing

"So, kid, what are you?"

Peter looked up - er, down? - from the ceiling, where he was playing on a 3DS. "What do you mean?"

"You're not a Shifter, and I am recently doing a lot of learning on different types of Ethereals."

"Oh." Peter smiled. "I'm an Eclipse."

"And that is . . . ?"

"It's kinda like a step to the side of a Shifter. Instead of changing completely into a spider, I just have all the abilities and extra limbs from the get go."

"How old are you?"

"I was still an egg when Aunt May and Uncle Ben found me. They were humans, and they panicked when hunters caught wind of me. Miss Tony took me and hid me up here."

"Oh."

"It's not so bad. She hides more than just me here. There's also MJ and Ned. MJ's an octopus and Ned's an armadillo."

"An octopus and an armadillo?"

"Yeah. It's hard to get into tickle fights with them because Ned's hard to reach and MJ sticks to you."

"How does that even work?"

"MJ has a saltwater tank downstairs that she sleeps in, but she's okay for up to a month without salt water. Irritable, but okay. What about you, Mister Bucky?"

"Just a Shifter. A Russian wolf, actually. Peggy and Steve are my alphas, both timber wolves."

"Neat."

"What about Natasha? You know her."

"Miss Nat? We met at an Arachne shrine. I like to make offerings to her sometimes because she's cool. She gives me extra powers sometimes, like the recent ability to spin webs from my wrists. Or the Spidey-sense."

"How did Tony even know about you?"

Peter shrugged. "She said Mister Yinsen told her I was in trouble when she was passing through New York."

He fell silent. Peter hopped down from the ceiling, his coloured limbs making the drop soundless. 

"Look, Mister Bucky, I can tell she means a lot to you. And she does to us, so I understand." The boy hesitated. "But there's a lot broken inside of her. She's strong, but she's seen a lot of bad things and done them too. When she was teaching us about Ethereal history, it took us a long time to put together that she was the Clement Kingmaker she mentioned. And the Clement Kingmaker was the epicentre of a lot of wars."

"What did she tell you?"

"Well, it started with the Stark Kingdom, which she crippled. Then the Banner Kingdom sacrificed itself to keep her away and made the Hulk. Then the Equinox, where she massacred an army of assembled loyalists to her father and his old allies. She wasn't really clear on what happened during the Equinox, but it was a short and brutal battle that decided the fall of the Ethereal world and allowed the humans to rise. After that, she defended Wakanda from another army, locked away the Hulk and crippled the Cult of Thanos and the Cult of the Red Skull. The Clement Kingmaker is also given credit for the decimation of the Mandarin and the Ten Rings Alliance. That's not even to mention what happened in the Odium."

"What the hell is the Odium?"

"It was a place where the rejected and evil Ethereals went." Peter explained, voice dropping into a hushed whisper. "Remember the elephant graveyard from the Lion King? Kinda like that. But when the Klyntar made landfall, it got even worse."

His head was spinning. "Slow down for me, kid. I didn't get your stellar education. What are the Klyntar and what do they have to do with elephant graveyards?"

"Okay." Peter settled more solidly in front of him. "The Odium was a bad place for bad people on the run to hide. Like a pirate bar or something. The Klyntar were from outer space and came on an asteroid. Tony said they were like goop, but they went inside people and lived there. They made landfall in the Odium - which I think was in Greece? She wasn't very clear - and established hosts. One of the early ones was Carnage, the King of the Symbiotes. A few others made it, but only two other major players showed up, Venom and Riot. Apparently Riot was stronger, but Venom was favoured and it caused tension. When the other Kingdoms fell, Carnage thought there was a power opening and tried to take his shot at the Clement Kingmaker. Carnage was killed and in the ensuing chaos, Riot attacked Venom. The Odium went back to craziness, and Venom was presumed dead, but Riot wasn't able to hold the place together like Carnage had."

"And that's the cliffsnotes version?" He muttered in incredulity. 

"Pretty much. She taught us how the Symbiotes work and everything in case we ever came across one. They hate really high-pitched noises and fire."

He ran his hand through his hair for lack of anything to accurately express his astonishment. "Holy shit. I've lived on this earth a hundred years and had literally no idea about any of this."

Peter nodded sagely. "We're all really young."

He laughed, ruffling the kid's hair. "Not to humans we're not."

Peter leaned in conspiratorially. "Miss Tony thinks Venom is still alive."

Now didn't that just make his blood run cold. "Oh yeah?"

"Mmm-hmm. Just like she knows where the Hulk is. That's how we figured it out." Peter cocked his head. "Though I think she made it easier on us than on you. She wanted us to know we are safe."

"Do you feel safe?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically. "I love Miss Tony. She's the best."

* * *

Revelations about Tony seemed neverending and the wait for her to return from Wakanda was bearing down on him. Ned, MJ and Peter were all good kids, but occasionally there was a teenager by the name of Harley who dropped by. 

"Tony pays me to watch them in the form of free food." He'd explained with a shrug. "They're alright, so I come around."

"I take it you're an Ethereal too?" Clint asked.

"Yeah. A minor one. I'm a dryad. Talk to trees and stuff." He shrugged again. "My sapling's nearby."

"How does one even barter food with a tree person?" Sam muttered. 

"Overripe fruit does the trick, half-'n-half." Harley's smile was barbed. Bucky liked him already. 

Sam sputtered for a moment before resigning himself. "Yeah, okay, fine."

"I'm glad you agree." Harley wandered into the living room where Ned and Peter were yelling at an anime. "By the way, Wade comes in and out of here too. He's Peter's boyfriend."

"Peter's, like, fifteen." Clint argued. 

"Peter looks fifteen. He's actually twenty-three. Wade's thirty, but Tony sanctioned their relationship." Harley turned sharp, biting eyes on them. "Don't drive the PTSD monster away. I don't want a crying spider. He already gets web everywhere when he sneezes."

Bucky slapped a hand over Clint and Sam's mouths. "Got it, Harley."

"This place is a goddamn funhouse." Sam muttered once the teen(?) was gone. 

"None of this would have happened if your stupid bird had of just listened to me." Bucky pointed out. 

"Yeah, sure, rub salt in the wound."

"I'm calling it like I see it, Sam."

"Dinner!" Steve called.

* * *

* * *

**It's getting worse.**

"I know, man." She ran her hand through her short hair. "I can feel them too."

**We should go.**

"No." She vehemently shook her head, remembering last second to check and see if she'd remembered to put on her Bluetooth, the one that didn't work. "You know as well as I do that it's not going to end well." 

**She's come back. Can you feel that? The Clement Kingmaker is back on the field.**

She grit her teeth. "Yeah, I can. But as much as you might like her for being able to kick our ass, I'm not in the business of fixing the world. I never was. That's how you met me in the first place."

**Fine. But you're letting your cowardice define us both.**

"I'm okay with that. We've got bigger and better things to take care of than a squabble over Wakanda."

**It's not about Wakanda.**

"Dude, whatever. The point is, we don't care." She threw her leg over her motorcycle, starting the engine. "It doesn't matter what the Kingmaker wants to do with herself, what new disasters she's looking to inspire. We're going home."

**What do you plan to do, then, when she finds us?**

"What makes you think she can?"

**Pattern recognition.**

"Shut up." She grimaced. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." She paused as she pulled on her helmet. "What will you do when she appears?"

**Offer to join her.**

"You suck."

**The Prince has returned, love. We cannot wait for him to bring us down. We must strike first. Hers is a good hand to hide behind and wait to strike from.**

"I still don't like it."

**I know.**

She sighed again. "Later. We'll talk later."


	14. Homewrecker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. This took forever. Sorry guys. :/

T'Challa had never had the privilege to see the Clement Kingmaker fight. He'd imagined her battles as glorious feats in childhood, her wars amazing victories worthy of songs. His mother had neither encouraged or discouraged him, simply smiling sadly as she watched him play. As he'd gotten older, he'd learned from books the realities of those battles, the impacts of wars even the landscape had forgotten. 

That was nothing compared to seeing it in person. 

"It's kinda gross, isn't it?"

He turned to find Prince Banner behind him, wringing his hands nervously. "Lord Seer."

"You don't . . . have to bother with that." He shook his head. "Seers have pretty much died out. Not a lord of much of anything."

He nodded. He would abide by the Prince's terms just in the interest of his comfort. "As you wish."

Bruce nodded to the battlefield they were observing from a watchtower. "Her fighting is beyond words sometimes."

"I though the English had two words for such an event." He let out a stuttering breath. " _Massacre_ and  _catastrophe_."

"They're still not quite right." Bruce shook his head, a sardonic smile twisting his lips. "There's not really a word that conveys one person killing off an army by herself."

"I suppose not." He continued to observe the carnage. Bodies, for miles and miles, and in the distance, more fighting. They were all supernatural creatures, likely drawn forth by a summoner, but there were Ethereals scattered amongst the horde - new age Firebreathers and what appeared to be remnants of the Odium and Carnage's kingdom. 

Bruce stared out over the plain, frowning. "She was right to bring me, though."

"Oh?"

"The Prince would never attack her directly, because he saw that cost firsthand, but he's testing her. He's trying to rally the old guard."

"The Prince? Of the Odium?" Now that surprised him.

"She needed a confirmation he would come." Bruce scowled and nodded over to a distant section. "I can give that to her. He doesn't know whether I'm alive or dead, let alone that we would be allies even past the battlefield of the Originals."

"Well, I can certainly say your allegiance is not something to be scoffed at."

"No." Bruce smiled wanly, eyes distant, watching something no one but him could see. "It's not."

* * *

She opened her eyes, looking over at her Steward. 

"My Queen?"

"She's back."

"Who?"

She smirked, slouching back on the throne and letting the energy humm though her. It confirmed it, zipping around in childish mirth. 

"I can't believe that bitch is still alive. I thought for sure Carnage had taken her down." She laughed, almost dangerous. 

"The Kingmaker, my Lady?"

"Yes, the Kingmaker." She adjusted her grip on her father's staff, the one she'd claimed alongside the kingdom. "And I thought I might want to strangle her."

"You don't?"

"Not really. You know as well as I do that we're not the only ones who survived when we shouldn't have."

"Indeed."

She considered the ceiling thoughtfully. "I wonder what she'll find that we missed. Someone will rise to challenge her, you watch."

"I imagine their challenge is the reason she's even reappeared."

"I wonder if the Princess will come too."

"Only time will tell, I suppose."

She locked gazes with him again. "Alert the kingdom. I want us on high alert, Nick."

"Of course, Carol."

* * *

She re-entered the palace with her mask on. She was hurting - this kind of carnage was one too familiar to her and she hated having to feel it on her skin again. But this was her doing, her weakness breaking back out. Always running in cycles, her failures. 

Stalking through the palace, she let the Empyreals guide her. She stiffed them out, the traitorous rats. She left them ash piles on their floors. Right down to their advisory. 

"You're dangerously efficient."

She turned, finding N'Jadaka standing behind her, arms crossed. "A hard-learned lesson, I'm afraid."

"I know what that feels like." 

She nodded. "I know you do. I can feel Bast inside you."

He flinched, but it was enough. "What do you plan to do now?"

"They're dead, your conspirators. I'll consult your king, then go home."

"Sounds too easy."

"Doesn't it?" She laughed. "Because it is. We'll see. Good evening to you, Prince."

She left him behind, finding Bruce standing on a balcony. 

"Before you ask, yes, I saw him." Bruce spoke. "He's not ready to challenge you yet. This was a test. You made him nervous. He's not staying here."

"Then where's he going?"

"He was unsure. Torn between targeting you personally or continuing to look for the Princess."

"Probably the Princess. Only the Royal family here are aware I have loved ones."

"You know where she is?"

Tony nodded quietly. "This isn't the place to say."

"Good luck. I'm returning to Nevada. Call on me when you need me."

"I will. Goodbye, Bruce."

He kissed her cheek and turned away. 

She turned back to the window and took off, towards San Francisco.


	15. The Yellow Brick Road

**Eddie.**

"What, V?"

**We have to go home. Now.**

"Why?"

**The little one is in danger.**

She dashed out of the store to the dismayed yell of Mrs. Chen, rounded the corner, and let Venom take over. 

* * *

"Hey there, little one."

She shrunk away from him, eyes darting to the sides. She looked so, so similar to her mother. Dirty blonde hair cut short and choppy, dark hazel eyes, full lips and faintly freckled nose. 

"We're not going to hurt you. We just want to know where your mummy went."

"Can't say." She replied. 

"Why not?"

"Said not to talk to strangers." Her eyes met his, sharper than before. "Plus you didn't knock when you came in."

"We're not so bad." He knelt in front of her with a smile, perfectly non-threatening. "We're old friends of your mom's. We need to see her again because she's in danger. Can you help us?"

She looked down again. "I know. I don't wanna help either."

He narrowed his eyes, but immediately soothed his expression. He felt the hunters behind him get antsy. "Either?"

"I don't know how to call her. I know she needs to know."

"Who are you talking to?" He asked. 

She snapped her gaze up to him. "Sleeper. Now don't interrupt again."

* * *

They slammed through the window, Venom melting away as they landed. "Vicky? Vicky?!"

The Clement Kingmaker - dressed in dark, baggy clothing but her nonetheless - spun around. She snarled, voice shifting with Venom's. 

"What did you do with her?"

"Nothing! I came looking for you and the place was sacked!" The Kingmaker protested immediately. 

She grabbed the other woman by the throat, Venom's claws forming around her fingers. "Don't  **lie to me!** "

"Drake was seen in Wakanda!"

She dropped the Kingmaker. To her credit, the brunette didn't appear offended. She just adjusted her clothing and straightened. 

"Drake attacked Wakanda with some hunters not two days ago. Prince Banner confirmed it. I killed who I could find, but he was gone before I could get to him. I tracked you down, but he found you first, I'm guessing."

"Not me." She hissed, turning and running a frantic hand through her hair. "Victor."

"Victor?"

"My baby. He found my baby. I had to go to the store for chocolate." She hissed again and struck the wall, cracking the brickwork. "He took my fucking child."

"Where? I'll help you get them back."

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be here!"

The Kingmaker frowned. "Find him, Jarvis."

"Yes sir." Energy took off like a breeze through the broken window. 

She felt the fire ripple through her, enraged and kinetic. She had to keep that to herself - this was not the time or the place to let that secret loose. Especially not in front of the woman who massacred the whole fucking world. 

 **"What brings you out here? You could kill Drake."** Venom was a head, hovering out of her back. 

"Technically. Riot, on the other hand, is much harder to eradicate. You can kill Riot like you killed Carnage."

"I didn't kill Carnage. I killed Cassady. The two were too closely connected." She corrected. "If you killed Drake, Riot would die before he found another host so favourable."

"Doesn't matter."

Venom, inside her head, rumbled. They both knew how Carnage actually died, and the symbiote she possessed had nothing to do with it. 

"Kinda does." The Kingmaker argued. "Even if I could do it as well as you, he's come for you, evidently. No contenders to the re-awakening of the Odium."

"The Odium failed." She hissed. "A bunch of murderers fighting for supremacy of a garbage tract of land. Then the Klyntar showed up and just added a whole new layer of awful to the situation." She mentally apologized to Venom, who cooed back affectionately in response. "Cassady would have died without the Klyntar. You should have just killed them all off, me included. Ended the whole Odium and been done with all the traitors and liars."

"Wouldn't have gotten rid of the assholes who sent people wrongly accused there." The Kingmaker shot back. "People like you."

"Oh, I deserved it. Every inch of it was my fault." She laughed bitterly. "Now, that worthless, pretentious angel is going to try and take what's  _not his_."

Energy fluttered back in, disappearing into his mistress' chest. The Kingmaker's eye flicker down, as if she's listening to someone behind her, then met her eyes again. "J says they're not far from here. I can lead you."

"Do it. Right now."

"Follow me."

Red and gold armour overtake her body and she leaps out the window, blazing blue wings sprouting from her back. Venom takes her over, because he knew she wanted to keep her secret to herself. There's so much at stake here - not just in their discovery as the remnants of the Odium, but in her past even before that, who and what she is. And very much doubts the nation she came from has fallen, since the Princess of Lights hadn't even been there when the Kingmaker had run it through. 

Venom has little trouble keeping up with the Kingmaker, but when they approach the expensive apartment building where Energy said their daughter was being held, they found new bodies - headless - splattered on the pavement. Sirens wailed in the distance and she knew this was where they were coming. They scaled the building with little difficulty, landing on the 'backyard' of the penthouse with a roar of righteous indignation. 

"Mom!" A little girl with blonde hair came running out, wrapped up in a green and black tracksuit. Venom receded, but hovered over her shoulder. The little girl was obviously no stranger to the Klyntar, because she reached up to kiss him as well. He rumbled back. 

"What happened? Are you okay? Who took you?"

"He called himself Riot." She replied, her face growing stern and dark in a way no little child's face ever should. "He's inside."

The Kingmaker landed and walked through the shattered glass, leaving mother and daughter alone. 

The penthouse was trashed. Most of the windows were blown out, several men - presumably hunters - were stuck through with broken furniture and even pieces of the roof. At the far end of the massacre was Carlton Drake, pinned to the ground with multiple pieces of rebar. Her helmet retreated and she knelt next to him with a smirk. 

"Sucks, don't it?" She patted his leg, stuck through, and squeezed the thigh muscle near the wound. 

"Stane is right to hate you." Drake spit.

"Yes, yes he is." Her grin only widened. "But we're not here to talk about where I plan to place his head in my trophy room. We're here to talk about you, and your plans good sir."

"I'll die first."

She ripped the rebar from him, none too gently, then pressed him into the ground with one hand on his chest. "You know what the funny thing about angels and Empyreals is?"

He rolled his eyes. "Enlighten me."

"They both use pure magic to exist, and can't harm each other." She pressed her hand down more firmly. "Usually, that applies to the Kingmakers that they inhabit as well, since it is their essence that controls its actions. However, since I am not a golem, I can hurt you all I want and be protected from your little light shows."

He paled. 

"Isn't breaking the laws of nature a good time?" She laughed. "Stane can hate me all he wants, but he knows, at thee end of the day, the only reason I even lived long enough to rip out his heart is because  _Howard_ made me like this."

Drake looked back down to where her hand was, feeling the gauntlet begin to warm. 

"Now, we can do this one of two ways, Riot. You can tell me what I want to know and Venom eats you mercifully quick. Or, I will sauté chunks of you, a handful at a time until there's nothing left worth taking from you."

"I'm not telling you a damn thing."

"You lost a fight to a ten year old, man. Besides, you went to all this trouble to rent a place so far out of the way of people. I can even tell you've got the walls soundproofed. How much do you wan to put that to the test?"

* * *

"Do you believe me now?"

She scowled, Victor asleep against her chest. Her baby was safe. Venom had reached out and was communing with Sleeper to make sure their little symbiote was safe and unharmed as well. The Kingmaker was leaning against a wall a ways away, arms crossed but not impatient. 

 **Eddie, we should go with her. Give Victor to Anne and go with her**.

"I don't want to go, V. I'm done with this whole mountain of bullshit. I didn't ask for any of it. Not from the fucking moment I sprung from the earth to right this goddamn minute."

The Kingmaker narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything. 

**If we leave it like this, Eddie, the world will die. There will be no home for Victor and Sleeper. And you both cannot leave. You're tied to this planet and its life forces.**

"Don't go and get all reasonable on me. This isn't fair."

**If you were being reasonable, I would not have to be.**

"Fuck."

**Yes. That is the result of inaction. Getting fucked.**

She glared at the Kingmaker. "What the fuck do you want me to do about this mess? I've already eaten Drake. Shouldn't your problems be solved now?"

"You know as well as I do that it's never that easy." The Kingmaker answered. "But trust me. You're not the only one hiding people from harm."

"Then enlighten me."

The Kingmaker looked down at her feet, swallowing thickly. "Stane is still alive, so is Hammer. They could have attacked Wakanda a hundred times in the time I've been gone and you vanished. There's a reason they've decided to make a break now. You know who I'm talking about."

She swallowed. "Yeah, yeah I do."

"And you know what he wants."

"Yeah."

"I'll kill him this time. But I can't risk him getting away again. I have Bruce's support and Wakanda behind me. I need your help too."

She looked down at Victor's sweet little face, Sleeper's green and black goop seeping in and out of her skin. She remembered giving birth to them, how excited Venom had been to realize that not only had they managed a child together, but  _a pair_ , just like them. 

 **Children are so rare and sacred.** Venom had told her.  **And we have _two_.**

Victor, Sleeper and Venom were all she had, had ever had, and she would do anything to keep them safe.  _Anything_.

"I need to put her somewhere. She can't stay alone and I don't want to leave her with a human who can't protect her."

The Kingmaker nodded. "I'm sheltering my pack in Canada. We can go there and leave her safely, then begin the real task."

She took a deep breath. "You can call me Eddie, if we're going to be working together. Venom and I are different people."

"I know, Princess. My kingdom had a close relationship with yours. You're more than welcome to call me Tony."

"No sense in wasting time." Venom took her over, encapsulating Victor as well. " **Let's go.** "

 


End file.
